1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to tailgates on pickup trucks and vehicles having similarly attached cargo beds and tailgates.
2. Description of Prior Art
Pickup trucks and many other vehicles are specifically designed to allow the loading, transport and unloading of cargo items. This generally requires the use of a tailgate assembly which can be lowered into a horizontal position for loading and unloading and raised to a vertical position during transport to contain cargo items in the vehicle bed/cargo area.
Many of these vehicles are manufactured for appearance and function may be secondary to appearance. For instance, most manufacturers construct both long (approximately 8 foot bed length) and short (approximately 6 foot bed length) vehicles based on the same vehicle platform. The main difference is the length of the vehicle bed and therefore cargo capacity. One of the most serious encumbrances for owners of short bed vehicles is the inability to transport cargo, which is more lengthy than the vehicle bed with the tailgate in the vertical position. This can be overcome by lowering the tailgate and transporting the cargo with the tailgate in the horizontal position. This prevents the vehicle from safely transporting longer items, as the bed is not long enough to allow the cargo to reside within the cargo bed while having the tailgate assembly in its vertically oriented or raised position.
It would be desirable to have a device, which can be installed in a long or short bed vehicle to effectively increase the volumetric capacity of the cargo bed as well as provide an auxiliary vertically oriented tailgate when the primary tailgate is in the horizontal position.
Merits of this device would include greater versatility for owners of short and long bed vehicles, safety improvements for vehicle owners who currently transport loads without a vertical tailgate in place. Other obvious advantages of this device would include the ability to install it on all new pickup trucks and cargo vehicles with similar features. Installation could be performed by the original manufacturer, the dealer or the end user. Older vehicles with similar beds could likewise be retrofitted with the unitized cargo bed extension and auxiliary tailgate.
Many inventors have patented ideas relating to tailgate extensions and vertically oriented auxiliary tailgates, and the following U.S. Pat. Nos. are representative of some of these innovations: 1,266,521, 1,289,997, 2,729,499, 2,852,303, 4,023,850, 4,472,639, 4,531,773, 4,778,213, 4,889,378. Although the aforementioned patents disclose tailgate extensions and auxiliary tailgates, none of the patented devices describe a unitized cargo bed extension with a removable vertically oriented tailgate.
Although a body of prior art exists which describes devices to extend tailgates and provide for auxiliary tailgates, the prior art previously described, does not mention or suggest a cargo bed extension with the following combination of features: (1) unitized construction utilizing current modern design and engineering techniques resulting in a marketable and functional product; (2) a bridge between the cargo bed and primary tailgate while in the horizontal position; (3) an auxiliary tailgate held in position by a plurality of vertical guides on each side of the cargo bed extension with an integral reinforcing guide along its upper edge, providing lateral support as well as a convenient handle for removal and insertion; (4) an auxiliary tailgate which can be locked into position by a multitude of locking pins or similar devices; (5) an integral reinforcing member which will reside in the void space between the cargo bed and the primary tailgate in the horizontal position; (6) two integral members for attachment to existing stakepockets or custom location to aid in installation and provide structural integrity; (7) ability to install on old and new production pickup trucks and similar cargo vehicles, (8) engineered to be easily integrated into existing vehicle bedliner products.
The following description will further establish the previous characteristics as desirable and unique to the present invention, other advantages over prior art will be rendered evident.